Midnight Inspiration

The ball smacking against the wall was the only sound that vibrated through the cold night but the crashing sound only got stronger as the sky grew darker.

gritted her teeth as she brought the head of her racquet against the tennis ball with full strength. She wasn't exactly in the best of moods and this was just one of the ways that she releases her anger.

's racquet was a blend of silver and navy blue Prince that she bought last year on her own birthday because of him. It wasn't much but this was the first racquet she had... All because of him.

But now, could care less what happened to the racquet as she swung it against the hard impacts of the ball over and over again. She glared at the same spot on the wall as she hit it repeatedly. Her eyes are now clouded with tears.

"I don't give a bull anymore! He didn't accept me for who I am!" cried out. "He took advantage of my feelings to do his biddings. Burn in hell, you fucking bastard! The sooner the better, dammit!"

She swung her racquet again in full force but as she tried to return it this time, the strings on the head of the racquet broke, sending the out of control ball flying right pass her. 's right hand twitched and her wrist felt sore. She fell to the floor, not expecting an impact with that ball, but…

"Itai!"

Her eyes widened as she immediately turned her head back, so hard that her neck almost snapped.

"Shishido-san!" followed another.

The boy that got hit looked much bruised already with long chestnut-colored hair that was tied into a messy ponytail. Apparently, his name was Shishido Ryou and he sat on the cold ground rubbing the side of his left cheek that seemed awfully red.

The other boy beside him had some short fluffy-looking hair that made him look cute. He also had a cross-shaped pendant and necklace around his neck that swung out as he as bended down for his friend.

blinked and stared blankly, still not having the situation register in her brain. It was late at night and her mind was clouded by other distractions.

A glare soon reached 's way. "WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU, WOMAN?!"

Silence followed.

ran over and extended her hand out to the boy that she accidentally injured.

"Keh," he glared but turned away.

"-san?" asked the boy with grayish-colored hair in a kind voice and nodded.

"Choutarou, you know this woman?"

"Shishido-san, this is the new transfer student," the boy nodded on.

looked at them, back and forth then noticed the emblem on their uniforms, "Ah, you guys are from Hyoutei."

"And you are sure slow," growled the same discontented voice.

**********

let out a heavy sigh. That incident happened many months ago, but Shishido Ryou still held a grudge against her.

She looked down at the Hyoutei tennis jersey in her hands. Whose were those? Shishido Ryou's of course. How did she get her hands on it? To put it in simple words, he shoved it to her after taking it off right in front of her eyes.

And she took it too, but by her normal personality, would have thrown it right back at him. She still felt bad for having smacked the ball at his cheek since it was swollen for some time. The jersey was now perfectly dry after the hand wash so now all had to do was to give it back.

and that boy have gotten pretty close in the past few months after the accident. And a lot has happened since then. Shishido Ryou got kicked off the team for losing to Tachibana of Fudomine Chuu. That was when they met. He and Ootori Choutarou were practicing that night and they just so happened to pass her when her ball smacked him. After being kicked out of the team, he cut his precious hair and managed to regain his position as a Regular of Hyoutei.

And for , that night was also unforgettable. It was that day that she found that her boyfriend was cheating on her. Sure, she was more violent and tomboyish than other girls, but then why would he ask her out in the first place? To just embarrass her? That's the reason that she transferred schools and went to Hyoutei. To be honest, just couldn't take the humiliation that would follow that event.

She shook her head as pushed opened the door to the boys' tennis clubroom. But as soon as she went inside, she wanted out. They were changing.

"Irresponsible as usual, -san, ah~n?" commented Atobe Keigo as he rolled down his school uniform and finished pulling on his shirt.

coughed intentionally and shrugged as she looked around for the guy. "Ne… where is Shishido?"

"He left practice early saying that you had his jersey," smirked the tensai, Oshitari Yuushi. "What exactly is your relationship with him, ?"

's face went bright red but somewhat suppressed it, "Master and slave."

"Ah… I see." Oshitari's smirk widened as she twitched.

"I'm not THAT kind of slave, dirty-minded Yuushi." She growled out as she stomped out the door.

If Shishido wasn't at the changing room and as Oshitarii said, he probably left, and then he must be at her house waiting for his tennis shirt, right? She ran toward her house as fast as her legs can carry her.

panted heavily as she arrived. The door was unlocked, meaning Shishido was indeed here, or had been here. She pushed open the door with one hand and let out a huge exhale.

"Shishido Ryou! Where the hell are you?!"

That outburst was followed by total silence.

"Oh no he wouldn't!" 's eyes widened as she panicked. She quickly ran up the stairs and stormed into her room.

The door to her bedroom was open. But the boy that she wanted to find was nowhere in sight. entered her room quietly; her broken racquet from that night still lay by the wall opposite her bed. Wait… her bed, what the heck was in her bed?

gulped as she dragged up her blankets. "..."

's mind drew a total blank. Why the hell was he sleeping in her bed?

"Should I kick him… or poke him?" She asked herself with an annoyed expression. "I wanna kick him…"

But much to the ruin of her fun, before she could kick him, the big man himself sat up and rubbed his eyes with a yawn. "Man, you are finally back. Do you have any idea how long I waited?"

"Finally back, my ass! I went to the clubroom to find you but no… where were you? In my house, sleeping! Don't you know that trespassing on other people's property is illegal? Argh!" growled and threw his now cleaned jersey at him. "Here, I washed it."

dropped down on her bed and laid down, "I'm too tired to move… You are a such a slave driver."

"It's not my fault that ball smacked me in the face."

growled again as she protested rather pathetically, "It wasn't my fault either!"

"Well, didn't you know that when you hit hard on the strings repeatedly that it would break? Even an idiot would know that."

"Fine, I'm worse than an idiot," she let out in a more sorrowful voice. It was a tone that no one ever heard from her. "I wanted it to break. I hate that racquet."

"Well, if you if hate it so much, throw it out!" replied Shishido as he swung his legs down to the floor to sit parallel to . He walked over to the Prince racquet and picked it up.

's gaze hardened as she glanced at the racquet that leaned against the wall and her voice sounded awfully desperate, "I can't… I just can't..."

"And why is that?" inquired the chestnut-haired boy while placing the usual blue cap on his head.

"I can't forget him."

Another silence followed, but Shishido quickly broke it as he threw the racquet out through the open window, into the trash can below. 's eyes began to water at the scene but she refused to let them fall. She snapped her head away. This wasn't ... no, was a tomboy who gave up on crying. But...

"Can't forget a guy? Wow… that's a new one," Shishido commented. "But too bad now, it's out of our life."

glared at him, ignoring what he said. "I can't help but keep it! I really liked him!" That bastard used me... the racquet deserved to be thrown out."

"Well, then I guess it can't be helped, since I already threw out your racquet."

Before could answer back, Shishido leaned forward and captured her lips in a kiss. It was fierce and passionate; couldn't help but kiss him back.

As the two broke away, he wrapped his arms around 's shoulder, letting her head to fall on his, "I'll just have to make you forget."

A new beginning and a new relationship with him. He was determined of one thing.

To make her happy.

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March 1, 2006 ~ July 2, 2006
Written by: Yuriko
Edited by: Rikapyon!